Texans announce final roster moves to get to 53

The Houston Texans cut some big names on their way down to an initial 53-man roster. Here’s a look at all the moves they made:

Released:

• T Trent Brown (story)
• TE Harrison Bryant
• CB Myles Bryant
• WR Quintez Cephus
• LS Blake Ferguson
• FB Jakob Johnson
• CB Arthur Maulet (story)
• T Conor McDermott
• S Jalen Mills
• LB Nick Niemann (story)
• CB D’Angelo Ross
• DE Casey Toohill

Waived:

• CB Damon Arnette
• DE Solomon Byrd
• C Eli Cox
• G LaDarius Henderson
• WR Daniel Jackson
• RB Jawhar Jordan
• TE Luke Lachey
• DT Haggai Ndubuisi
• LB K.C. Ossai
• WR Cornell Powell
• QB Kedon Slovis
• T Jaylon Thomas
• LB Jackson Woodard
• S Russ Yeast

Placed on IR (designated for return):

• S Jaylen Reed

Placed on IR:

• TE Irv Smith Jr.
• WR Juwann Winfree

Placed on reserve/NFI:

• CB Alijah Huzzie
• RB Joe Mixon (story)

Placed on reserve/PUP:

• DE Denico Autry
• WR Tank Dell
• DT Kurt Hinish

Placed on commissioner exempt/reserve/PUP:

• S Jimmie Ward (story)

The Texans took some flyers on some discarded veterans this offseason and, ultimately, decided to throw a lot of them right back in the pond. We’ve already gone into detail on Brown, Maulet and Niemann, but it’s a bit shocking to the trade return for John Metchie get released after a little over a week. Houston even attached a fifth-round pick to Metchie to make the deal happen and received Bryant and a sixth-rounder in exchange. Now, all they have from that deal is a sixth-round pick.

Mills, like Brown, saw his 2024 season ruined by injuries, something not uncommon in Mills’ career. The Texans took a good look at him this offseason, but even with Ward’s ongoing issues, Mills will not debut for his fourth NFL team. Meanwhile, Cephus and Arnette continue to struggle on their way back to playing in an NFL game, while on the injury front, Smith joins fellow tight end Brevin Jordan on season-ending injured reserve.

Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 identifies both the rookie tight end Lachey (seventh round) and the undrafted rookie linebacker Ossai as players that the team will make a priority to bring back on the practice squad.